Find Affordable Medical Care For Your Child After Regular Business Hours

If you had health coverage before the Affordable Care Act began, you may be dismayed with increased coverage requirements such as higher monthly premiums as well as higher annual deductibles.  Many people found that the health insurance plan they were satisfied with was canceled and that new offerings did not include familiar physicians.  So, what do you do if you need to take your child to see a physician without insurance or after hours? Whether or not you still have health insurance coverage, the two main options for non-life-threatening injuries are still visiting an emergency room or an urgent care center, like Urgent Care West Maui.

Here are a few advantages of choosing the Urgent Care option:

  • With Insurance:  Co-pays for urgent care are usually less than emergency rooms.
  • Without Insurance:  Actual out-of-pocket expenses are lower in urgent care centers than in emergency rooms. 
  • Urgent Care Centers treat on a first come, first serve basis.  Emergency rooms must treat patients according to triage order; those with more serious injuries or illnesses necessarily jump to the front of the line.  If your child has sustained something like a painful dog bite which will require stitches, then he will be waiting longer to receive medical attention in an emergency room than an urgent care center.

Here are a few advantages of choosing the Emergency Room option:

  • If your child is experiencing intense symptoms, then an ER will be able to administer medication immediately and your child can be transferred to a room overnight.
  • Extensive labs, advanced radiology equipment, and specialists are available in the same building.
  • If your child is admitted, then the co-pay will be waived.

In both locations, your child will be seen by an experienced, qualified physician. Both offer 24-hour service, seven days a week.  Both will work with you to set up reasonable payment plans as needed.  In either location, your child will be admitted to a hospital if necessary.  It may require transporting, but in either location, admitting privileges are available. 

Murphy's law seems to dictate that children running a fever, falling out of a tree, or being bitten by a dog will do so after 5 o'clock on a Friday.  Your child can be treated more quickly and with less expense in an urgent care center than in an emergency room, as long as there is no suspicion of a life-threatening issue. If you aren't sure which symptoms may constitute a life-threatening issue, scripps.org has a list that can help you out.

Share